![Neamt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Neamt.citadel1.cristibur.jpg)
Neamț Citadel ( ro, Cetatea Neamț or Cetatea Neamțului, ) is a medieval fortress located in north-eastern part of
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, near
Târgu Neamț
Târgu Neamț (; german: Niamtz, hu, Németvásár, he, נאמץ טרגו, la, Ante Castrum Nempch) is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania, on the river Neamț. It had, , a population of 20,496. Three villages are administered ...
,
Neamț County
Neamț County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River.
Demographics
Population
In 2011, it had a population of 470,76 ...
. It was built in 14th century
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
during
Petru I of Moldavia
Petru I may have been a Voivode (prince) of Moldavia from the end of 1367 to after July 1368. Several historians, including Constantin Rezachevici and Ioan Aurel Pop, believe him to have been the son of prince Ştefan, oldest son of voivode Bogda ...
's reign and expanded in the 15th century. The citadel played a key role in
Stephen III of Moldavia
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
's defense system, along with
Suceava
Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central and Eastern E ...
,
Hotin
Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of the ...
,
Soroca
Soroca (russian: link=no, Сороки, Soroki, uk, Сороки, Soroky, pl, Soroki, yi, סאָראָקע ''Soroke'') is a city and municipality in Moldova, situated on the Dniester River about north of Chișinău. It is the administrative ...
,
Orhei
Orhei (; Yiddish ''Uriv'' – אוריװ), also formerly known as Orgeev (russian: Орге́ев), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei ...
,
Tighina
Bender (, Moldovan Cyrillic: Бендер) or Bendery (russian: Бендеры, , uk, Бендери), also known as Tighina ( ro, Tighina), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the un ...
,
Chilia and
Cetatea Albă
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...
.
History
Lack of reliable information on the origins of Neamț Fortress had resulted in several hypotheses whose reliability was often questioned. A number of historians and philologists, as
A.D. Xenopol
Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol (; March 23, 1847, Iaşi – February 27, 1920, Bucharest) was a Romanian historian, philosopher, professor, economist, sociologist, and author. Among his many major accomplishments, he is the Romanian historian cred ...
,
B.P. Hasdeu, D. Onciul consider that - according to the papal bull of 1232 - the Teutonic Knights of Bârsa had built between 1211–1225 on the eastern slope of the
Carpathians
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...
a ''castrum muntissimum'' which was later identified as the citadel. The Germanic (Teutonic or Saxon) hypothesis was acquired by many of Romanian historians and sustained by both:
-the site's onomastic "Neamt", which in Slavonic and Rumanian languages means " German"
-and by the fortification style, typical to Imperial German military architecture of Hohenstaufen period XII-XIV centuries.
The German knights "the Saxons" have been appointed to fortify the Carpathian passes against the frequent barbarian incursions into Transilvania.
The Saxons have been settled in Transilvania (Siebenbürgen- seven castles) since then, 150 years before the founding of later principalities of Valachia and Bogdania(Moldova).
Archaeological research of the citadel has not revealed any evidence of a fortification before the reign of prince Peter II (1375-1391) & oldest coins discovered on the site are from the same reign. The name might be related with the name of the district and later county of Neamț where later ( i.e. early 14th century) Saxon colonists settled in the nearby town of Baia (known then as Moldau).
Gallery
File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 5.JPG, Inner Court
File:Neamt Citadel 08.jpg, Neamț Citadel
File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 2.JPG
File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 1.jpg,
File:Neamt Citadel 06.jpg,
File:Neamt Citadel 08.jpg,
File:Neamt Citadel 05.jpg,
File:Neamt Citadel 03.jpg,
File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 4.JPG,
See also
*
List of castles in Romania
This is a list of castles and fortresses declared historic monuments by Romania's Ministry of Culture. Banat
; Caraș-Severin (6)
* Bey's Fortress, Socolari
* Caransebeș Fortress, Caransebeș
* Cuiești Fortress, Bocșa
* Ladislau Fortress ...
*
Tourism in Romania
Romania's tourism sector had a direct contribution of EUR 5.21 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018, slightly higher than in 2017, placing Romania on the 32nd place in the world, ahead of Slovakia and Bulgaria, but behind Greece a ...
External links
English description
Castles in Romania
Castles in Moldavia
Buildings and structures in Neamț County
Tourist attractions in Neamț County
Historic monuments in Neamț County
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